Following theSupernatural panel at Comic-Con, we were able to sit down with stars Jensen Ackles, Jared Padalecki, Misha Collins, Mark Sheppard and executive producer Jeremy Carver to chat about Demon Dean, Sam’s search for his brother, angel politics and Crowley’s new demon pal. Here’s what we learned about season 10 from the press room:

The state of Demon Dean. Last season we saw Dean as a tortured soul, according to Jensen. He lost his sibling relationship and it became very business-like. He had the guilt of tricking Sam into being possessed by an angel and he had a lot riding on his shoulders last season. For season 10, he wanted to do a contrast for demon dean that was Dean without any of that stuff. That Dean is kind of the same guy but without any care in the world. It’s “scary how little he cares about every and anybody. Even himself. Even the car.” Jensen says there’s nothing funny about it at all. Dean is so carefree and careless, he’s just busy doing whatever he wants to do, whether it’s karaoke or having sex with women. He described a scene he just shot with Dean singing karaoke in a bar and everyone is booing him and he doesn’t care and just sings louder. “A lot of bar fights, a lot of booze, a lot of babes, that’s Demon Dean”. He’s a little bit more smirky, has more swagger to him. It wasn’t anything specific that Jensen was going for, it was just a mental state he was trying to get into.

Sam’s search for Dean. Jared says “we get to see fully human Sam doing things to other full humans that we wouldn’t expect. We certainly will no longer doubt Sam’s loyalty and commitment to [saving] his brother. But we do tease morals and ethics and how far one can go before they become a monster themselves. We tease that more this season than we’ve done in seasons prior.”

Cole and Sam. We know about a new character named Cole who is also searching for Dean when the season begins. Jared said that Cole is someone from Dean’s past and Sam encounters him early on before Dean does. Sam isn’t aware of how Cole knows Dean and vice versa, but Sam is in a position when he knows Dean is a demon and tells Cole that he should stop his pursuit. Jared also revealed that Cole witnessed something back in season 1 when he was ten years old and is now searching for Dean because of it.

What will happen to the brothers? Fans of the Winchester brothers’ relationship might be concerned that Dean being a demon will drive a real wedge between them this year. But Jeremy says “I feel like at the end of last season [the brothers] reached a certain good place. Not necessarily a happy place, but a good place. Dean died and even over the course of the last episode, there was a real maturation in terms of Sam accepting that Dean is walking into death and being OK with that.” That good place they were in carries on into season 10. When the season starts Sam has no idea what happened to his brother. He has some suspicions, but he’s not sure. “Sam is very hot and heavy on the pursuit. I think you’ll see the bothers, when all is said and done….I like it a lot. [It’s] something a little bit different than what we’ve seen in the past couple of years in the way they react in the aftermath. I think there’s a certain amount of healing that has to go on with it. Both acknowledge [it needs to be done] in their relationship and just on a personal level. You’re going to see the boys really, for lack of a better term, go to ground when this is done and saying ‘we need to get better’. Now, of course, the supernatural always follows them. But it’s not the same bombastic ‘you idiot!’ [reaction]. For everything they go through, they actually end up in a good place.”

What state is Castiel in? According to Misha, Castiel is finding himself getting weaker and weaker as we see him again in season 10. He says that it’s not like a human being getting sick, but his powers are very depleted. He is, however, mentally alright. Despite that, he is trying hard to help with the Demon Dean situation, although we’re not sure how helpful he can be while he’s this weak.

The key to Castiel’s grace. “I think, probably, Metatron is key to getting Cas’ grace back and Cas knows that,” Misha said. “We establish that early on in the season. And we also establish that Cas is unwilling to cooperate with Metatron or ask a favor of him. I would not be surprised if later on in the season it turns out that Metatron does end up rectifying the [grace] situation somehow. Because he certainly is, as far as we know, the one who knows how to do that or where Cas’ grace is? [Is it still in existence?] I don’t know. It seems so.”

What’s happening in Heaven? According to Jeremy, the focus in the beginning of the season is much more what’s happening with some angels on earth. The angels in Heaven have largely gotten their act together, Metatron is in jail and angels up there are trying to work things out. In terms of stability in heaven, its more stable than its been in many years.

Is Cas involving himself in heaven’s politics right now? Misha says that he’s “more grounded on earth,” but wouldn’t tell us more. He did, however, say that we will be seeing Hannah with Castiel (she was introduced last year) early on in the season and a few other new angels.

Watch the full video interviews from the press room below. Supernatural returns for its tenth season on Tuesday, October 7 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.

Clarissa is Managing Editor at ScreenFad and former Managing Editor of TVOvermind. A lover of genre shows (like Supernatural and Arrow) and quality dramas (like The Good Wife and Homeland), Clarissa provides on set and event coverage as well as news, spoilers and reviews for all things TV and movies. Follow her at @clarissa373 or email her at clarissa @ screenfad.com.